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Looking through the windows of the Garage (it's actually
no longer a garage - we converted it to a lounge area years ago - but old
habits die hard), I have a clear view of the remains of a cherry tree. Once the
pride of the garden with a tight mass of eye smarting, white candy floss blooms
in spring, it is sadly now just a pared down skeletal stump with a few twisted
antlers of decaying wood. Where once hundreds of lithe young branches would
whiplash in a summer breeze, its corpse now stands bare; a sorry disease
stricken remnant of past glories. I had to take a saw to this once splendid
specimen some 10 years ago, regretting each stroke of the toothed blade but
knowing for safety's sake that it needed to be done. I cut the branches so
removed into manageable chunks and piled them in a shady spot under a hedge
where they have subsequently provided a breeding, feeding and hiding place for
myriad small invertebrates, amphibians and mammals whilst they rot. The
remaining trunk has…

The minibuses came to a halt, pulling into a
conveniently sited recess along a road bisecting gently rolling coastal heathland.
Our group of eager nature lovers disgorged as quickly as their maturing bodies
would allow in order to see up close booted eagles, a pair, that we had spotted
hunting low over the sandy ground. Binoculars were swiftly raised in the expectation
these raptors would fly away from the press of humanity pouring from their
metal boxes like toothpaste squeezed from a tube, but the eagles had another
imperative; the need to find food outweighed their natural fear of all things
human. These beautifully marked birds were on migration, moving south from
breeding grounds in the north of Portugal, or maybe somewhere in Spain, to
spend the winter in Africa. Now encountering the vast expanse of the Atlantic,
they would have to change course and move along the southern shores of the
Iberian Peninsula to find the narrower crossing point across the Gibraltar
Straits. Meanwhile …

I live in Norfolk, I've always lived in Norfolk and will undoubtedly do so until this body of mine throws in the towel. I love wildlife and have done so since a very young age. Can't see that changing either. Having much time on my hands my aim now is to see as much wildlife as I can from as many places as I can afford to reach. The plan is to document some of my experiences and thoughts here for others to share.